SummerSlam (2011)
SummerSlam (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE and it took place on August 14, 2011. It was the twenty-fourth annual SummerSlam event and the third consecutive SummerSlam at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was also the final WWE event before the dissolution of the original brand extension, which was introduced in 2002. Six matches were scheduled for the event, with a seventh was added during the show when Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated CM Punk. SummerSlam attracted a sellout crowd of 17,404 fans at Staples Center in Los Angeles, grossing more than $1 million, marking the highest grossing SummerSlam held at Staples Center. The event garnered 296,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 350,000 buys the previous year. Production Background Much like the previous year's SummerSlam, WWE promoted the event with its SummerSlam Axxess fan convention, held at the Nokia Plaza in LA Live on August 13 and 14. R&B singer Cee Lo Green performed both "'Bright Lights Bigger City", the official theme song for the event, and his hit "'Forget You" during the broadcast. The commentators for this event were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Booker T. Storylines The professional wrestling matches at SummerSlam featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, WWE. Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows Raw and SmackDown with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. The main feud headed into SummerSlam was from the SmackDown brand was between Christian and Randy Orton, over Christian's World Heavyweight Championship. At Extreme Rules in May, Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, only to lose it to Orton on the May 3, 2011 tapings of SmackDown (aired on May 6). After two unsuccessful attempts at regaining the title from Orton at the Over the Limit and Capitol Punishment pay-per-views, Christian finally won the championship for the second time at the Money in the Bank event in July, after he spat in Orton's face, provoking the latter to kick Christian in the groin and get himself disqualified; as per pre-match stipulations enacted by Christian, he won the title. At the July 29, 2011 episode of SmackDown, the new Chief Operating Officer of WWE, Triple H, scheduled a title defense by Christian against Orton in a No Holds Barred match at SummerSlam. The main event from the Raw brand for SummerSlam would pit John Cena against CM Punk for the WWE Championship. In the weeks leading to the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in July on Raw, Punk announced the expiry of his WWE contract on the night of the July 17, 2011 event, en route lambasting WWE for failing to promote him as the "best wrestler in the world", and threatened some high authority figures like WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, of defeating Cena and leaving WWE with the championship. At Money in the Bank, Punk pinned Cena to win the title, and even after McMahon tried to have Alberto Del Rio – who had won the Raw Money in the Bank briefcase earlier that night – cash in his contract against Punk. The latter nevertheless left the arena with the championship. The following night on Raw, McMahon dismissed Punk's claim to the title, and announced an 8-man tournament to decide the new WWE Champion. Also, on the same night, Triple H relieved McMahon of his duties, and assumed control over WWE as the Chief Operating Officer. On the edition of July 25, 2011 of Raw, Rey Mysterio defeated The Miz in the finals to become the WWE Champion but lost it later on the same night against Cena. After the match, Punk returned to WWE with the title belt he had won at Money in the Bank. As they were now two wrestlers with a claim to the WWE Championship, a one-on-one matchbetween Punk and Cena was scheduled for SummerSlam to determine the undisputed WWE Champion. On August 8, 2011 episode of Raw, Triple H made himself the special guest referee for the Undisputed WWE Championship match. The Divas rivalry heading into SummerSlam was between Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix over the WWE Divas Championship. On the edition of August 1 of Raw, Phoenix won a Divas battle royal to become the #1 Contender for the Kelly's Divas Championship at SummerSlam. After her victory, Phoenix turned into a villainess and attacked Kelly in and out of the ring, and later told Kelly that "her days as the cute, blonde little bimbo are over." On the following week, Phoenix defeated Eve Torres in singles action, but was attacked by Kelly after the match. Aftermath In March 2002, WWE initiated brand extension, which promoted its core business of professional wrestling through such brands, named after their two major television shows, Raw and SmackDown. On the August 29 episode of Raw, it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand, thus effectively dissolving the brand extension. In 2013, Stephanie McMahon revealed in an interview with Advertising Age, that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms. However, the brand split was reintroduced in mid-2016, when SmackDown began broadcasting live on Tuesdays. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * SummerSlam Category:SummerSlam Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2011 Pay-Per-View Events